Living Dead Nightmare
by TaeRiNftw
Summary: What do you do when the mall suddenly becomes a zombie breakout? How will Valerie (OC) and the gang survive? Will this give her the opportunity to be with Jude? (Jude x Reader.) This story takes place from the 6teen hour long special "Dude of the living dead". [Note: I ONLY own my OC]
1. Typical Day

It's a regular typical day at the mall on a weekend morning as I was the first to arrive at the gangs usual spot at the Big Squeeze.

Caitlin, Wyatt, Jonesy and Nicki showed up a little after me as we greeted each other.

Then Jen showed up and I couldn't help but to stare at her forehead.

"Uh Jen?" I called out to my friend.

"Yes Valerie?" Jen responded nonchalantly.

"What is that," I hesitated. "On your forehead?"

"It looks really gross" Caitlin said with a gag.

She was right.

There was a big red blob in the middle of Jen's forehead.

 _So gross!_

"It's a zit guys." Jen said with a sigh, lowering her head.

"Looks like a big monstrous zit to me." Jonesy said.

"Jonesy!" Nicki yelled at him as she elbowed his stomach.

"I knew it!" Jen shrieked. "My mother told me nobody would notice! Now the whole world will see this thing on my face today."

Jen put her head down, ashamed of the zit.

"Oh honey. I'm sure it'll go away soon. Right Wyatt?" I said, glaring at Wyatt who was about to sip his cup of joe.

It seems he wasn't paying attention.

"Right WYATT!?" I repeated, emphasizing his name.

Wyatt was startled from the tone of my voice and chocked a bit from his joe.

 _That caught his attention._

"W-What?" He said, looking at me and then at Jen. "Oh yeah. Don't worry about it Jen. It'll go away."

"Sure it will." Jen said with a sigh and put her head down once again.

I sat next to Jen and rubbed my hand across her back to give her reassurance.

After about a minute, Jude finally joined us.

"Hey dudes and dudettes!" Jude shouted as he approached us.

"Sup Jude!" I greeted him with a huge smile.

He smiled back and took the empty seat next to me.

As Jude sat down, Jen looked up in which Jude took a good look at the gigantic zit on her forehead.

His eyes widened in shock as if he'd just seen an alien life form on her head.

"Holy cow brah!" He screamed. "What happened to you!?"

"Don't. Mention. It!" Jen threatened.

Jude shut his mouth before he could say another word.

Before any of us could say another word, Nicki checked the time and spoke first.

"Woah, aren't you going to be late for work Jude?" She said. "Scratch that, shouldn't you be working RIGHT NOW?"

She emphasized the last two words.

"Who is watching the 'Stick It' stand right now?" Wyatt asked as he took a sip of his joe.

"No one." Jude answered nonchalantly.

"Jude!" I shouted. "You shouldn't be slacking!"

"I know." He sighed. "But I'm really tired."

"Considering the fact that you just now showed up and your shift probably started a while ago, you're going to land into some big trouble." said Caitlin as she popped the lemon hat on her head.

"I know." Jude said with a yawn.

"Well, why didn't you sleep last night?" Jen asked as she used her hand to cover the zit.

"That's because I was had a zombie movie marathon last night." He answered.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yup." He answered with pride. "Didn't sleep till 4 a.m. dudes"

"It's your own fault for staying up all night." Nicki said, shaking her head. "Now if you excuse me, I gotta get to the Khaki Barn or else the clones will torture me with their nagging."

"Same. Gotta head to the Penalty Box or it's time out for me and this zit" Jen said, whining as her and Nicki left the circle.

"Hey Caitlin." Talon greeted as he approached us.

"Oh! Hi Talon!" Caitlin squealed.

All communications with Caitlin has been lost once Talon, her current boyfriend, showed up.

That just leaves me, Jonesy, Wyatt and Jude.

"Hey guys, you know that new job I got?" Jonesy asked us.

"You mean at Not Quite Naked?" Wyatt questioned with his eyebrow lifted up.

"Yeah!" Jonesy said in excitement.

"How did you get that job?" I asked. "I thought managers wouldn't hire male workers."

"Isn't that store full of dudettes?" Jude asked.

"Sure that store is full of hot chicks." Jonesy started. "But don't worry, I told them I was homosexual."

Our jaws dropped when Jonesy said that.

I never woulda thought he would pull that card in order to get a job.

"Jonesy, for once, I am speechless." I said as I stood up from my seat.

"It's genius" He said.

"Sure it is." I said, giving him a thumbs up. "Good luck with your job. I'm heading to work."

With that, I started walking towards my job until Jude called out to me.

"Hey Val, wait up."

I stopped and turned.

"What's up Jude?" I asked

"Mind if I walk ya to your job?" He asked. "You know, since Stick It is along the way."

I couldn't help but to blush.

 _I could never say 'No' to Jude._

"Sure" I said with a smile.

He smiled back and walked along my side.

I've always had a crush on Jude ever since the day we met.

I believe it all started last year when I was new in town and I purchased a lemonade at the Big Squeeze. Jude was the first person from the gang to approach me and introduce himself. He was always so nice and sweet to me. I find him to be a really cute and funny guy.

I know I can always count on Jude whenever I need someone to talk to. I just don't know if I'll ever confess my feelings to him.

"Hi Jude!" A female's voice interrupted my thought.

I looked to see who it was that spoke and noticed Starr.

I frowned at the sight of her.

She's the reason why I don't want to confess my feelings to Jude.

Nicki told me that Jude and Starr used to have a thing for each other.

They only kissed once but their relationship ended up in some sort of disaster.

"Hey Jude." Starr said once again as she roller bladed towards us.

"Hi Starr" Jude greeted.

"Hi Valerie" Starr greeted me with a smile.

"Hey Starr" I said quietly.

I don't hate or dislike Starr. She's a really sweet person.

What bothers me is that sometimes I think Jude still has some personal feelings for her.

We parted ways from her as Jude and I approached my workplace, Just Desserts in silence.

"Well, here's my stop. Thank for walking me Jude." I said, grinning at him.

"No worries. See you later Val" He waved as he headed towards his job.

"Give me a call when you finished your shift!" I shouted

"Gotcha dudette!"

With that, I headed inside, put on my apron and started my shift.

* * *

I was assigned to stand outside the store and provide free chocolate samples.

 _How boring._

It's really only been two hours since work started and I am bored out of my mind!

My manager just so happened to not be paying attention to me so I whipped out my phone and gave Nicki a call, my 'go-to' gal.

 _"Hello?"_ She said, answering the phone call.

 _"Sup Nicki."_ I said

 _"Let me guess, you're going to die from boredom?"_ She asked with a chuckle.

 _"Gee, I wonder how you know."_ I answered sarcastically.

We both laughed.

 _"So Valerie..."_ Nicki started talking. _"Jonesy texted me that Jude walked you to Just Desserts again._ "

 _"Yeah. He did."_ I said with a smile.

 _"You seriously need to tell him!"_ She shouted.

 _"I can't!"_ I shouted back. _"You know it'll ruin our friendship if he doesn't return those feelings!"_

 _"Oh come on! I'm absolutely sure that Jude likes you back!"_ Nicki shouted again.

 _"Well, I don't believe you. I highly doubt it's true.."_ I said sadly.

" _Why so?"_ She asked.

 _"We bumped into Starr."_ I frowned once again.

 _"Well, did he say hi to her first?"_ She asked

 _"No, she started it."_ I answered.

" _Then he probably did that just to be nice! I'm telling you Valerie! Tell him!"_ Nicki screamed once again. _"I'm pretty sure Caitlin and Jen would agree!"_

 _"I guess so. I bet Jonesy and Wyatt would do the same."_ I said with a sigh.

 _"See! We're all rooting for the two of you ever since we met!"_ Nicki said with confidence.

I couldn't help but to giggle.

Nicki sure is the best person a friend can have.

* * *

We continued to chat on the phone for the next couple minutes.

It was basically her complaining about the clones while I continued to hand out the free samples.

I was soon approached by a weird, odd looking customer.

 _"Hey Nicki, I'll call you back. There some weird guy here."_

With that, I hung up my phone and stared at the guy.

He was making a funny facial expression.

His skin was very discolored and deformed looking too.

His mouth was open so I could see lots of drool as well as rotted teeth.

"Sir?" I finally spoke nervously. "C-Can I help y-you?"

The guy didn't respond. Only made some weird grunting noises.

"Uhn...Uhn.."

"W-What?" I asked confused.

Within a matter of seconds, he grabbed my arm which caused me to drop my things.

"Hey! Let go!" I shouted as I squirmed myself free from his grasp. "Let go of me you psycho!"

The weird looking man wouldn't let go so I had to punch his arm.

After about a minute of struggling, I finally freed myself from his grasp.

I fell to the ground and looked at my arm.

His arm was detached from his body and was still gripped onto me.

"W-What the!?" I freaked out and threw the disgusting arm away from me.

I looked at the gross man and he seemed to slowly walk up to me with one arm.

"What is going on!?" I shouted as I backed up and looked around.

I noticed that other people were just as gross looking at this guy, even my manager looks like one of them!

I also noticed those monsters biting innocent people and seeing a change.

With that, I got up and started running.

"I need to find Jude and the others!" I said to myself as I kept running and dodging any incoming arms.

I took out my phone and started calling Jude.

His phone kept ringing until it reached to voicemail.

I called the next person, Wyatt.

The phone call was answered immediately, as if he didn't want the give the phone a chance to ring.

"H-Hello!?" Wyatt shouted, sounding as if he was running.

"Wyatt!? Where are you!?" I screamed. "I was attacked by some weird, freakish looking man!"

"Did you get bitten!?" He shouted.

"No! I'm okay!" I answered.

"Good! I'm with Jude! We're heading to Not Quite Naked, Jonesy's in trouble!" He screamed.

"Got it! I'll meet you there!" I said.

I hung up the phone and ran at a faster pace, making my way towards Not Quite Naked.

I'm relieved Jude and Wyatt are alright.

 _I just hope everyone else is okay._


	2. Saving Others

After dodging a couple more weird looking people, I finally reached Not Quite Naked.

I ran inside the store and noticed Jonesy being attacked by the dressing room.

"Valerie! Help!" Jonesy cried.

"Hold on Jonesy!" I shouted.

I ran towards the nearest object I could find.

I picked up a pole from a dismantled clothing rack and ran towards the monster attacking Jonesy.

"Take this!" I screamed and smashed the pole on his sides.

The person let go of Jonesy and made his way towards me.

"Run!" Jonesy shouted.

"I tried to run away but someone caught my leg and I tripped to the ground.

The monster grabbed my leg and was going to take a good bite at me.

"No!" I grabbed onto my pole and kept hitting it but it wouldn't let go.

Just when his mouth was close to my leg, Jude showed up and smashed the monsters head with a mannequin's head.

"You leave her alone!" Jude shouted.

"Jude!" I was so glad to see him.

"Val! Are you okay!?" He asked, grabbing my hand and helped me up.

I couldn't help but to hug him.

I am really grateful to have him come and save me.

"I'm just glad you guys are okay." I said, trying to stay calm.

"Are you two okay?" Wyatt asked me and Jonesy.

"Yeah. We're okay. But what on earth is going on!?" Jonesy shouted in confusion.

"That what I'd like to know. These people are nuts!" I shouted.

"I wonder what's happened to all these people." Wyatt asked.

"I have a theory dudes and dudette." Jude spoke as we looked at him.

"What is it?" Wyatt asked.

"You see, this is just like one of those horror movies I watched. It's where people becomes undead." Jude answered.

"You mean, like zombies?" I asked nervously.

"Yup. Zombies" Jude said, nodding his head.

"So these people are undead zombies!?" Jonesy shouted.

"This is bad..." Wyatt said quietly.

All of a sudden, my phone started ringing.

I checked the caller ID and it said 'Nicki'

 _"Hello?"_ I answered.

 _"Valerie!? Where are you!? I need help!"_ She screamed.

Nicki sounded really frightened over the phone.

 _"Nicki!? What's going on!?" Where are you!?"_ I shouted.

 _"Khaki Barn! Dressing room! Attacked by creepy zombiefied clones! Heeelp!"_

With that, the phone call was dropped.

"Nicki!" I shouted.

"What's happening?" Jonesy asked.

"We need to get to the Khaki Barn! Nicki's in trouble!" I said in a panic.

"We gotta go save her!" Wyatt shouted as he motioned us towards the store entrance.

* * *

Once we got to the Khaki Barn, we saw that inside was full of zombies.

"Where inside is she!?" Jonesy asked.

"She's hiding in the dressing room!" I said, pointing towards the direction where most of the zombies were.

"Quick! You go to Nicki. I'll make a distraction!" Jude said.

"A-Are you sure Jude?" I asked nervously.

"Don't worry. It'll only take a sec." Jude smiled towards me then ran past all the zombies for them to notice him.

Doing so caused them to move away from the dressing room and I ran towards the door.

I opened the door to see Nicki holding a clip board as a weapon.

"Valerie!" She shouted in relief and hugged me.

"Nicki! So glad you're safe!" I said, hugging back.

We got out and ran towards Jonesy and Wyatt.

"Watch out behind you!" Wyatt shouted.

I turned around to see the zombified clones walking towards us.

"Oh crap! Don't let them bite you!" I yelled, warning Nicki.

Just as one of them was close to biting Nicki, I grabbed the clipboard from Nicki's hand and threw it at her head.

Doing so caused the undead clone to actually be dead.

"Woah.." Nicki said in shock.

"Let's go!" Jonesy shouted towards us as we continued to run away.

Nicki took the chance to bring down the store gates and locked the door.

"Wait! Where's Jude?" I asked nervously.

"Here I am!"

Jude popped up behind me, escaping from the gate just in time.

Once Nicki officially locked the gate, we sighed in relief for a bit.

"That was close." Nicki said.

"At least that will hold off some of them." Wyatt said.

"Jude, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm alright. At least the plan worked." Jude answered.

I sighed and smiled.

I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Jude.

"Have you guys tried calling Jen or Caitlin?" Nicki asked.

"I haven't." I said.

"I tried calling Jen but she's not picking up the phone." Jonesy said.

"Same here for Caitlin. It's just going straight to voicemail." Wyatt said.

"Then let's head to the Penalty Box. I'm sure Jen is still there." I said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

With that, we all slowly and quietly made our way to Jen's job.

* * *

We all hid behind the fake bush to scope out the Penalty Box.

We could see Jen hiding inside the timeout box with a zombified Coach Halder trying to reach for her.

I noticed a box of new hockey sticks not too far away from the entrance for us to grab.

"Guys. I have an idea." I started talking. "Those hockey sticks would be good for weapons. If we grab them, we have to hit their heads, that's the only way. We hit Coach Halder's head and save Jen!"

"Good idea Val." Jude said as he quietly grabbed the sticks for us.

With that, we each grabbed one and approached the coach.

Jonesy struck Coach Halder's head which made him officially dead.

"Are you alright Jen?" Wyatt asked as he freed Jen out of the timeout box.

"Boy am I so glad to see you guys. I thought I was going to be some sort of human bait." She said as she sighed in relief. "What is going on though?"

"We don't know ourselves." Jonesy answered.

"I would answer but all of this happened to me in a flash." Wyatt said.

"Yeah. I know the clones were in the middle of nagging, and the next minute, some girl came in and bit them." Nicki said.

"I had a guy attack me at work. Good thing I freed myself fast enough or I would've end up like them." I said.

"Uhm dudes and dudettes." Jude spoke. "I believe we're forgetting someone."

We all paused and looked at one another until we realized who we forgot.

"CAITLIN!" We all shouted in unison.

Just then, my phone vibrated, it was a text message from Caitlin.

"You guys, I just got a text from her." I said as I reached for my phone.

"What does it say?" Jen asked.

I opened the message and read it out loud.

 _"Help me! Talon is acting weird and is suddenly attacking me!"_

"Oh no! Talon has become one of them!" Nicki shouted.

"We need to save her!" I screamed.

"Where is she?" Waytt asked.

"I don't know, she didn't write in the message." I answered.

"The movie theater downstairs!" Jen shouted. "She mentioned something about watching a movie with Talon during her break!"

"To the movies!" Jonesy shouted.

* * *

As we made our way to the movie theater, we found Caitlin throwing popcorn at the undead Talon.

"You guys! Save me!" Caitlin shouted.

"Hold on Caitlin!" Jen shouted as she gripped onto her hockey stick and knocked Talon to the ground.

I grabbed Caitlin's hand and dragged her away.

"Let's go Caitlin!" I said, yanking her hand.

We all took off and ran off as fast as we could.

"Good bye Talon! I'm sorry! I love you!" Caitlin cried towards the fallen Talon.

"Now's not the time Caitlin!" Nicki lectured.

"But, this is like my break up with him!" Caitlin said as she started to tear up.

After running for the next couple minutes, we finally rested by the escalators.

"Just. How many. Of them. Are there?" Jonesy asked through each breath.

"I don't know man." Wyatt answered, catching his breath. "I hope we can get out of here though."

"That's if we can." Jen said.

"Val! Behind you!" Jude shouted.

Before I could react or speak, I turned around to see an Albatross & Finch worker grabbing my arms.

"Hey! Let go!" I said, fighting back.

"Oh no! Valerie!" Nicki shouted as she held onto me.

"Don't worry, I'll save you Val!" Jude called out as he picked up an abandoned skateboard.

Jude was about to whack the zombies head until someone else did the job.

The zombie let go of me and dropped to the ground.

I looked up to see who saved me and it was none other than Ron the Rent-a-cop.

He was holding his night stick and then pointed it towards us.

"Speak maggots. Dead or alive?" He asked threateningly.

"Thanks for saving my life Ron!" I said in relief.

This caused Ron to lower his stick.

"I see you maggots are all alive." He said.

"Yes. We're still human!" Jonesy shouted.

"I'm so glad to see you" Wyatt said.

"Quiet maggots!" Ron said as he held his finger to his lips then spoke quietly. "They can hear us."

We all zipped out mouths shut.

"We can go to my office. That'll keep us safe and we can call for back up." Ron said quietly.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jen whispered.

"Single file behind me maggots." Ron said quietly.

We all lined up and started following Ron.

Jude tapped my shoulders as we were walking.

"Are you okay Val?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. What about you?" I whispered.

"I'm good. As long as you're okay, then I'm okay." He answered.

We both exchanged smiles and I couldn't help but to blush.

* * *

As soon as we reached to Ron's office, he immediately locked the door and barricaded it with tables and chairs.

"So what now?" Jonesy asked.

"We call for backup." Nicki said.

Just as Ron reached for his radio and made the call, the power went off.

Everything was dark and a bit hard to see.

"W-What just happened?" Caitlin shrieked

"The power went off." Wyatt answered.

"One of those maggots must've touched the power switch." Ron said annoyed.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Ron was silent for a minute but then spoke.

"Listen maggots. I have a plan." He said. "The control room is on the other side of the mall. We'll need to split up. Half stays here, half goes there."

"Whose going where?" Jude asked.

"I for one am going to the control room." Ron said. "Whose with me?"

"I am" Nicki said with confidence.

"Nicki?" I looked at her worriedly.

"Don't worry about me. It'll be a piece of cake." She said with a grin.

"If you say so." Jonesy said sarcastically.

"Oh and I volunteer Jonesy." Nicki said, crossing her arms.

"What!?" Jonesy said in shock. "I-If I go, then Wyatt goes!"

"Hey! Who said I was going!?" Wyatt said in shock.

"Alright then it's settled." Ron said. "The rest of you stay here and guard this room. If those maggots shows up, you hit their heads."

"No problem Ron." I said.

"Good. On a count of 3, you will move those tables and chairs out of the way and block it again once we leave." Ron said, ordering us around.

"You got it dude." Jude said.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Jen asked.

"I'm ready." Nicki said.

"I'm not.." Jonesy sighed.

"Me too." Wyatt whined.

"Too bad you guys, you have to do it." Caitlin said.

"Okay everyone," Ron looked at each of us.

"1...

2...

3!"

Jude, Jen and Caitlin moved the tables and chairs out of the way as I opened the door.

This gave Ron's team the chance to step out of the office.

As soon as they left, I quickly shut the door and we pushed everything back to block the entrance.

Unfortunately, the zombies must've heard our loud movements and made their way towards Ron's office.

"Oh no! They found us!" Caitlin cried. "Oh I wish Talon was here!"

"Well there is no more Talon. Think about how you'll survive Caitlin!" Jen said, stating the facts.

"What do we do Jude?" I asked, worried about our currently situation.

"Chill dudettes. In one of those zombie movies I saw, the survivors were stuck in a room like this, and they fought back." Jude said.

"Then I guess we will fight back." Jen said, grabbing her hockey stick.

"Right on brah!" Jude said.

We all held onto our hockey sticks and stared at the door until a voice came around us.

"Listen to me maggots!"

It was Ron's voice coming from somewhere.

"What is that coming from?" Caitlin asked.

"There!" Jen pointed at Ron's desk. "There's a walkie-talkie!"

I grabbed the talkie from the desk and pressed the button.

"Ron?" I asked

"Good. you're all still alive. Let me talk to the skater boy." Ron said.

With that, I handed the talkie to Jude.

"This is Jude dude." Jude answered. "Haha. That rhymes."

I couldn't help but to smirk.

This guy sure finds some humor in a crazy event like this.

"Jude! This is no time to fool around!" Jen shouted at him.

"Sorry." Jude apologized.

"Listen. We are in the control room but the switch does not work. I need you all to grab my keys from the drawer and come to the control room." Ron ordered us.

Caitin looked through the drawer and found the keys.

"I got them!" She shouted.

"The bad news is we're surrounded by zombies." Jen said

We would practically hear the zombies pounding on the door.

"It's alright guys. I'll distract them while you all head towards the control room." I said.

"But Val, it's too dangerous. I'll go instead." Jude said.

"No Jude." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. "I need you to protect Jen and Caitlin."

"But.." Jude protested.

"No buts. All I'm going to do is run around and distract. That will give you guys plenty of time to get to the control room safely. I'll be there once I am in the clear."I told him with a smile.

"You're brave Valerie." Caitlin said, respecting my choice.

"Fine. I better see you at the control room." Jude said, looking at me.

"I promise you. I'll be extra careful." I said with my fist on my chest.

All of a sudden, Jude grabbed my arms and pulled me into a hug.

It wasn't one of those friendly hugs, it was more of a massive bear hugs.

I could feel my face getting hot.

I've never been this close to Jude before.

"Please be careful Val." Jude said as he let go of me.

"Don't worry. I will." I said with a slight smile.

I grabbed my hockey stick and moved the tables and chairs out of the way.

I opened the door and looked at the zombies around me.

I used the stick and banged on the floor to catch their attention.

"Dinner time! Come and get me if you want fresh flesh!" I screamed

I jumped a couple feet away and whacked a few heads to create some space.

With that, I started running the opposite direction.

I noticed all the zombies going after me which gave Jude, Jen and Caitlin enough time to escape safely.

Knowing my job was done, I continued running and knocking a few more heads.

 _Now all I have to do is stay safe and get to that control room in one piece._


	3. Confessions

I passed by numerous stores and food stands as more zombies came to chase after me.

I whacked at a few more heads since they were in my way.

I was starting to get really tired and quickly hid behind Vegan Island to lose the zombies.

After a few minutes, I managed to get away from them.

I took advantage of this free time to catch my breath.

Soon, I heard something behind me and slowly turned around.

I stood there in shock at the sight.

There, standing in front of me, was a zombified Starr.

"Oh my gosh...S-Starr?" I called out to her quietly.

Zombie Starr only grunted and began to attack me.

I managed to dodge her and started running away from her.

 _This must be some sort of karma for speaking about her today!_ I thought to myself.

 _"_ Starr! It's me! Valerie!" I shouted, as if she could actually hear me.

I managed to find my way towards the Big Squeeze and climbed onto it's roof.

"Please don't climb. Please don't climb." I quietly said in a prayer form.

The zombified Starr looked up at me and then started climbing.

"Crap! I'm doomed!" I said.

I moved away as much as possible without falling off the roof of the giant lemon.

I even tried kicking Starr off but she grabbed onto my foot.

"Get away Starr!" I screamed.

 _I wish Jude was here to save me!_

All of a sudden, the power came back and I hear Jude's voice from the speakers.

"Val! Hold on! I'm coming to save you!" I heard.

I was smiling.

He's coming to save me.

I managed to kick Starr out of the way and grabbed onto my hockey stick.

More zombies was making their way towards the Big Squeeze and I was hitting anyone that was coming near me.

After a few minutes, the zombies were now swarming around and I am reaching my limit.

"Jude! Where are you!?" I shouted while panicking.

"Right here Val!" Jude shouted from above.

I looked up to see Jude coming down from the vent shaft.

"Jude!" I shouted in excitement.

"Grab my hand!" He screamed as he held his hand out.

I grabbed his hand as he started pulling me up.

Unfortunately, Starr got a hold of my foot again.

She was trying to pull me down.

"Ah! Let go!" I said, trying to kick her away.

"Sorry Starr. But I'm not interested in you anymore. I have someone else in mind." Jude said as he grabbed my hockey stick and whacked Starr's head.

This caused Starr to fall off and let go of me.

Jude finally pulled me up into the vent shaft and closed the lid.

Inside the vent, I took deep breaths to calm myself from the adrenaline I had.

"Are you alright Val?" Jude asked me worriedly.

Once I finally caught my breath, I jumped on Jude and hugged him.

"Oh Jude! I'm so glad you came to save me!" I said, tearing up a bit.

"I'm glad I saved you in time" He said, hugging me back.

"How did you know I was there?" I asked.

"The control room had cameras and we saw you from it when the electricity came back on. I saw you were in trouble so I had to rescue you. Ron told me to go through here to get you." He said.

I was smiling and blushing at the same time.

He went through all this just to save me.

I am grateful for that.

"You're the best Jude." I said.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Knowing what I did, I quickly looked away in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry...I-I don't know what I was thinking.." I said quietly.

Before I could look back, Jude had his hand on my chin and pressed his lips with mine!

I sat there in shock!

 _Jude is kissing me!?_ I thought to myself in shock and confusion.

I couldn't help but to kiss back.

I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!

 _This moment is finally happening!_

"Val..." Jude spoke when he moved away.

"Y-Yes?" I looked at him in awe.

"You see..." He paused. "I've liked you for a long time. I've wanted to tell you how much I like you..but I didn't know how you felt."

He looked away.

I was happy.

Very, very happy.

I grabbed his hands.

"Jude, I've liked you since the day we met. You were so nice and sweet to me. I was too scared to tell you how I felt also." I said quietly. "I also didn't know how you felt, but what really prevented me from telling you was.."

I trailed off.

"Was?" Jude asked.

"Was Starr." I said with a frown.

"Starr?" He asked confused.

"Yeah. Nicki told me you guys use to like each other. So I got sad when we bumped into her today. I wasn't sure if you still liked her or whatever." I said looking down.

"Wow Val." Jude said shocked. "I-I did liked Starr..."

I frowned again.

"But it all changed when I met you Val. Over the past year I've gotten to know you, I realized that you mean more to me than anything else." He said as he put his hand on my cheek.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." He said with a smile. "That is why, I want to ask if you'd be my girlfriend."

I looked at Jude and smiled.

"Yes. I would love to be your girlfriend." I said happily.

Jude and I leaned in for another kiss until we were interrupted by a voice.

"Ahem.."

Jude pulled out the walkie talkie that was in his pocket.

"We are so glad that the two of you finally got together but hurry up and get your butts back here!" Jonesy shouted over the talkie.

"Hehe..sorry. Forgot I brought this with me." Jude said as he giggled.

"oh Jude. You're so silly." I said, giggling back.

"Shall we head back?" Jude said leading the way.

* * *

After we crawled our way back to the control room, Jude and I hopped down from the vent shaft and I was greeted by everyone else.

The girls huddled around me and each gave me a hug.

"We were so worried about you!" Nicki said as she squeezed me.

"Luckily the cameras were on and we were able to spot you!" Caitlin said.

"I'm just so happy you're okay Valerie" Jen said.

"Yeah. I'm safe girls." I said, smiling.

"We did however heard everything." Nicki said, nudging and winking at me.

My face flushed.

"Y-You guys..." I said in embarrassment.

"You did a good job maggot" Ron said, showing me his respect.

"Thank you Ron." I said.

"I hate to break up this happy moment, but here they come!" Wyatt shouted, pointing towards the control rooms window.

We all looked out and noticed a horde of zombies approaching the room.

"Alright Maggots. There isn't enough time but the only way out is through the vent." Ron said

"Where do we go?" Jonesy asked

"Anywhere! Just get yourselves to safety. Now into that vent!" Ron said as he grabbed Caitlin and lifted her up into the vent.

"Ladies first!" Wyatt shouted as the zombies banged onto the window.

After Caitlin was Jen, Nicki and me. Then it was Jude and Wyatt.

All that's left was Jonesy and Ron.

Once we pulled Jonesy up, we could hear the windows break and the zombies swarming around Ron.

Ron took out his night stick and started whacking heads.

"Go! I will hold them off!" Ron shouted.

"But-" Jonesy tried to speak but Ron cut him off.

"No Buts!" Ron screamed as he bashed another head. "It was nice knowing you maggots. I bid you all farewell."

Ron saluted towards us and continued fighting.

Everyone started crawling away as I just sat there and watched the scene.

Ron was fighting all that he could handle.

He reached his limit and I watched in horror as the zombies were biting him.

"Val" Jude called out to me. "Let's go."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the horrific scene.

 _Goodbye Ron_

* * *

We crawled our way through the vent and found a way out.

It was safe where we were and climbed down.

"Where are we?" I asked as I jumped down.

"We at the Stereo Shack." Wyatt answered.

I looked around. Luckily, this store was empty and barricaded.

"What do we do now?" Caitlin asked.

"We're probably the only survivors left." Jen said.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I actually miss our Rent-a-Cop." Jonesy said.

"Yeah. He sacrificed himself to protect us." I said, sad that he's gone.

"He was my hero." Jude said as he saluted towards the ceiling.

"Come on everyone, let's focus. We need to find a way out." Nicki said.

"But how can we get out of the mall?" Wyatt asked.

Jen snapped her fingers and looked at us.

"The roof!" She shouted. "We can escape from there!"

"But how do we get to the roof?" Caitlin asked.

"I know some places that'll get us up there." Jude answered.

We all looked at Jude.

"How do you know?" Jonesy questioned.

"Well, I planned pulling a prank on Ron and took a look at the mall's blueprints." He answered.

"And what did you find out?" I asked.

"The ones I know that has access to the roof are, the food court, the movie theater, control room and Just Desserts." Jude answered.

"Huh? Just Desserts?" I asked.

"Yeah. You have a back door that leads to the roof." He said.

"Wow. I didn't know that." I said amazed.

"Okay. So where do we go to get easy access to the roof?" Jonesy asked.

"I know the control room is a no go." Nicki said.

"Well, what about the movie theater? I can find Talon and speak to him." Caitlin said.

"Caitlin! No Talon! He's a zombie!" Jen shouted.

"But I miss him!" Caitlin cried.

We all palmed our foreheads.

"What about the food court?" Jude asked.

"No good. I passed by there before, full of zombies." I said, shaking my head.

"Then what was the situation at Just Desserts? Before you left there Valerie?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, the only thing I remembered was seeing a few of them. I don't know about now." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Maybe we can check the movie theater first and then go to Just Desserts." Jen said.

"Even if we did get to the roof, how will we call for help?" Jonesy questioned.

"We'll figure that out later." Nicki said

We all grabbed our hockey sticks and approached the door.

"You guys ready? I'm going to open the door." I said.

"Ready" Wyatt said.

Everyone else nodded their heads and I opened the door.

We all ran out, ready to attack but noticed the quiet environment.

"It's empty?" Caitin said, confused.

"Where are all the zombies?" Jen asked.

"I don't know. What I do know is that the movie theater is that way." Jude said pointing the direction.

"I guess it's a good thing they're not here." Nicki said as we all ran towards the movie theater.

Once we got there, there was trouble ahead.

"Oh no!" Jen shrieked.

"The theater is full of them." Nicki said in annoyance.

"I guess this is why it was empty before." Caitlin said.

"Let's try and sneak through the entrance." Wyatt said while pointing at a empty area close to the theater.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Jonesy said as he pointed at the opposite direction.

There were more zombies making their way towards the theater.

"Maybe there's a zombie movie on and they want to watch it." Jude said with a slight chuckle.

"Jude!" Jen yelled quietly as she bonked Jude's head.

"Sorry, though it'd be nice to laugh for a bit." He said.

"Well movie theater is a no go. Let's relocate to Just Desserts. If they're mostly here, I'm pretty sure it'll be empty at my job place." I said.

Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Good. Follow me." I said as I led the way.

I managed to sneak us away from the theater.

"We just need to turn this corner and take the stairs up" I said as I turned the sharp corner of a random store.

Upon turning the corner, I bumped into a figure.

I looked up to see who it was.

It was none other than a zombified Talon right in front of me!

"Yikes!" I cried as Talon grunted and grabbed my arm.

"Valerie!" Nicki yelled.

"No! Talon!" Caitlin yelled as she ran by my side.

Zombie Talon was still holding onto my arm and had his mouth wide open.

He was about to take a bite until Caitlin pushed me out of the way, freeing myself from his grip and I fell to the ground.

I looked back up to see Talon's mouth on Caitlin's shoulder.

"Ah!" Caitlin cried.

"No! Caitlin!" Jen cried out.

We all stood there in shock.

Caitlin got bit.

Jude helped me back up as I rushed next to Caitlin. She was holding Talon's hand.

"It's okay guys." Caitlin said quietly. "Just go on without me. It's the end for me."

"A-Are you sure?" Wyatt asked as he stuttered.

"Yeah. I'll stay here with Talon. I just want to be with him and now I can." She said with a sad smile.

I was speechless.

"Caitlin..." I started speaking. "I...I.."

I couldn't say anything. I started tearing up.

"You're welcome Valerie" Caitlin said as she gave me a hug.

She then hugged everyone else as we all grew sad.

"Now go!" Caitlin yelled, nudging me to move forward.

I wiped the tears away and nodded my head.

I turned around and started running.

"Follow me guys." I said

 _Goodbye Caitlin. Thank you._


	4. Love and War

With the hockey sticks we had, we smashed a couple of zombie heads while making our way to Just Desserts.

Luckily, our paths were still empty because of the movie theater.

"There's Just Desserts!" I shouted, pointing at my store.

We all ran inside as I headed to the cashier and hit the lock button.

The gates came down and locked itself.

"That should prevent them from coming in." I said with a sigh of relief.

We all leaned against the counters to catch our breaths.

"I can't." Nicki said in between breaths. "Believe. Caitlin's gone."

"She really wants to be with Talon." Wyatt said.

"Guess she got her wish." Jen said sadly.

"I'm really thankful for Caitlin." I said with a slight smile.

We were all silent for a minute.

"Well, now all we have to do is get out of here." Jonesy said.

"Jude, how do we get to the roof?" Jen asked.

"If I remember correctly, there should be a door next to the freezer room" Jude answered.

"There is." I said. "That room had a 'keep out' sign on it. I just never knew what was through that door."

I led everyone to the door Jude mentioned.

It was next to the freezer room with a 'Keep Out' sign on it.

"You never took a peek through that door?" Jonesy asked.

"No. Never bothered to." I said with a shrug.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Nicki said as she opened the door.

Through the door was a ladder and another sign.

The sign had an arrow pointing up that says, "Roof access".

"Uh. Guys." Wyatt said, catching out attention.

"What is it Jude?" Jen asked.

"They're trying to come in." He said while pointing at the entrance.

We all looked and saw the horde from the movie theater banging on the locked gate.

"Crap! There's too many of them. They might be able to get in!" I said while frantically looking around the area.

I saw my hot fudge machine and walked up to it.

Surprisingly, there were two water guns lying next to it.

 _I have a plan._

I pick up a water gun and loaded it with hot fudge and then pumped it.

"What are you doing Val?" Jude asked.

"Guys, head to the roof without me." I said.

"What!? What are you talking about!?" Jen shouted at me.

"I'm going to stay here and hold them off so they can't get to you." I said, looking at them with a serious expression.

"With a water gun?" Jonesy asked.

"I'm going to shoot them with hot fudge." I answered.

"Why hot fudge?" Jude questioned.

"Well it's the only ammo I can think of. Plus our hockey sticks are starting to break apart. Might as well make use of it." I said and shrugged.

"No Valerie! I'm not going to let you go to your death!" Nicki yelled at me.

"Trust me Nicki." I said as I placed my hand on her shoulder. "I know what I'm doing."

"Promise us you'll come to us once you're done" Jen said.

"I promise." I said with a confident smile.

I looked at the entrance and notice the gate breaking apart. Pretty soon, they'll be swarming in.

"Hurry guys! Start climbing!" I said, pointing at the ladder.

"Val" Jude looked at me with a concerned look.

"Yes Jude?" I looked at him.

"I'm not letting you do this." He said.

"But..But" I tried to protest.

"Without me!" He shouted as he grabbed the second water gun.

A smile grew on my face.

 _He's willing to stay with me._

"Okay" I said, nodding my head.

Jen and Nicki hugged me and started climbing up the ladder first.

Then Wyatt and Jonesy patted my back and went up.

I closed the door and looked at the stoves.

"Jude, help me push these." I said, pointing at them.

We both pushed the stoves in front of the door to block the entrance.

That will certainly prevent any of those zombies from getting to roof and hurting my friends.

* * *

I grabbed the water gun Jude was holding and loaded it with hot fudge.

The both of us pumped our gun to prepare for our fight.

"Are you ready Val?" Jude asked.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be." I said as I took a deep breath.

I picked up my hockey stick to use if they get too close to me.

"Hey Val." Jude walked up to me.

"Yes?" I turned around to look at him.

He leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips.

"Good luck." He said with a smile.

"Right back at you." I smiled back.

The gates on the entrance finally broke and the horde came inside.

"Alright you zombie freaks! This means war!" I shouted my battle cry.

I pumped my water gun and started shooting extreme hot fudge at them.

They fell one by one whenever I shoot the hot fudge.

I was mainly aiming their heads.

"Jude! Aiming their heads will bring them down!" I shouted.

"You got it!" He replied.

We each took turn reloading our ammo and continued to shoot them.

I eventually grabbed my hockey stick and whacked some heads.

Among the zombies I killed, I saw my co-workers, Ron, Caitlin and Talon.

"Eat this you zombies!" Jude shouted as he shot another head.

* * *

After what seems like forever, we finally killed our last zombies in sight.

I looked around to double check and confirmed that each one was dead.

"We did it." I said with a sigh.

"And we used up all the hot fudge." Jude said, pointing at the machine.

"We are a good team." I said with a small laugh.

"Yeah. That was fun." Jude agreed.

I threw the water gun to the ground and looked at my hockey stick.

It broke in half and I tossed it aside as well.

"What now?" Jude asked.

"I guess now we head to the roof. It should be safe since most of them are dead." I said and sat on the counter.

"I need a break first brah. I'm beat." Jude said as he sat next to me on the counter.

He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

"I still can't believe all of this happened so fast." I said.

"I agree. A zombie breakout can happen anytime, anywhere." Jude said. "I wonder how it is around the world. Is every country like this as well?"

"I don't know." I said. "I hope the others found a way to signal for help."

"Hey Val." Jude called out to me.

"Hm?" I looked at him.

"I'm happy I got the courage to introduce myself to you last year." He said with a smile.

"Why did you approach me though? I was just another random girl buying at lemonade from the Big Squeeze." I asked.

I was curious.

There must've been so many other girls buying drinks there and I was the one he approached.

"Well," Jude said and put his finger to his chin. "I guess you could say, the moment I saw you, I found you to be very cute."

"Me? Cute?" I asked, shocked.

"Well yeah. Call me silly but it was as if I saw a beautiful glow from you and the angels were singing." He said.

"Woah." I was amazed.

I never knew this sort of thing would happen to anyone.

"Yeah. Silly huh?" He asked.

"No. It's not silly. I think it's a really cute story of how we both met each other." I said and put my head on his shoulder.

"Shall we head to the roof? I'm sure the others are waiting for us." Jude said.

"Yeah. Wouldn't want Nicki to worry."

We both hopped off the counter and made our way to the back.

Just as we were about to move the stoves, we heard a strange noise behind us.

"Uhn."

We both turned around to see a zombie, covered in hot fudge, right in front of Jude.

"Holy cow!" Jude shrieked.

"Grr!"

The zombie wrapped it's hands around Jude's neck and started choking him.

"Jude! Let go of him!" I shouted and tried to pull the arm away.

The zombie was too strong and kept gripping Jude's neck.

I could see Jude struggling to breathe.

"Val.." Jude called my name quietly.

I was panicking.

 _What to do!?_

I ran around looking for a weapon and even pulled out the drawers.

I finally found a skewer stick and grabbed it.

"Let go of Jude!" I shouted.

I ran towards the zombie and stabbed it inside it's head.

This caused the zombie to let go of Jude and topple over me.

We both fell to the ground with the zombie on top of me.

"Val!" Jude pushed the dead zombie away from me.

I sat up and brushed off the dirt on my clothes.

I looked at my arm and noticed something awful.

 **A bite mark.**

That zombie managed to bite my arm when he fell on top of me.

"No.." I started tearing up.

"What happened Val?" Jude asked while pulling me back up.

I couldn't say anything and just showed him the bite mark on my arm.

Jude stood there in shock.

His jaw dropped and eyes widened.

"No." He said softly. "Val..."

There was a long pause as I just stared at that mark.

"I'm sorry Jude." I finally spoke. "He must've got me when I fell."

I couldn't hold it in.

The tears started spilling down my cheeks.

 _I'm going to become like them._

 _It's game over for me._

Jude pulled me in and hugged me.

"It's okay Val." He said as he stroke my head.

"No it's not. I'm going to die." I cried. "You should get to the roof without me Jude. It'll be safer."

I can't believe it's all over for me.

How could I let this happen!

"No Val. I'm staying here with you no matter what." Jude said.

"Why? I'm going to turn and hurt you!" I cried even more.

"I don't care Val. I just want to be with you. This whole adventure was worth it for me. Even if it means I get bit and turn as well. As long as I'm with you." Jude said.

That did cheer me up a bit.

"You're so kind Jude." I said as I finally stopped crying.

"That's because I'm in love with you Val." He said.

 _Love._

Such a powerful word.

"Y-You love me?" I stuttered.

"Yes. I love you Valerie." He said.

"I love you too Jude." I said.

We both leaned in and gave one final kiss.

I could feel the chills in my body.

I was getting cold because Jude's hands were getting hotter and warmer.

My eyes were starting to feel heavy.

"I'm really tired Jude." I said, trying to stay awake.

"It's okay Val. Just close your eyes. I'm here for you." Jude said as he moved my head to his shoulder.

"Okay." I said.

I slowly closed my eyes.

I don't know what happened next.


	5. Reality

I slowly opened my eyes to see my window.

The curtains were moved to the side, showing the deadly glare of the sun.

I could hear birds chirping.

 _Wait..._

"What!?" I shouted as I sat up on the bed.

I looked around and noticed my bedroom.

My T.V. was on and it was showing a zombie movie.

I looked at my arms and saw no bite marks.

"Was it all a dream?" I asked myself.

I touched my lips and thought about Jude.

 _It was all just a dream._

I frowned.

"Valerie, you're an idiot. Of course it was a dream. Zombies aren't real." I lectured myself as I got out of bed and turned off the T.V.

 _That's the last time I'll be watching horror movies late night._

I got dressed, grabbed my stuff and made my way towards the mall.

I looked at each civilian and make sure I was back in reality.

Everything in my dream felt so real.

 _Too bad everything with Jude was just a dream._

* * *

Once I was inside the mall, I headed straight towards the Big Squeeze and noticed my friends chatting and laughing.

I was the last one to arrive.

"Hey Val!" Jude was the first one to notice me.

"Hey Jude." I greeted him with a smile and then a yawn.

"You're late Valerie. Are you okay?" Nicki asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired." I said with another yawn.

"What did you do last night?" Caitlin asked.

"I stayed up late watching zombie movies." I said.

"That sounds like something Jude would do." Wyatt said, sipping his cup of coffee.

"It does sound like something I would do brah." Jude said with a laugh.

We all laughed as I took a look at Jen.

I froze in my spot.

There was that red blob on her forehead.

 _The zit!_

"Ah!" I screamed in fear.

"What is it!?" Nicki said, worried about my freak out.

"Jen.." I said quietly.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Your forehead..." I said

"Don't look at my zit!" Jen screamed as she tried to cover it with her hand.

"But-But! I saw it before!" I shouted.

"Woah. Chill brah." Jude said as he pulled me to a chair.

"You okay Valerie?" Wyatt asked.

"You're pale." Jonesy said.

All of my friends were staring at me.

I finally fixed my composure and took a deep breathe.

"I'm so sorry guys." I said. "I had a crazy dream last night."

"Must've been from those movies" Caitlin said.

"Probably." I said and sighed.

"What was your dream?" Nicki asked.

I spent the next ten minutes explaining my entire dream to them.

Of course, I had to leave out the romance part because this is reality. I still don't know if Jude likes me.

"Awh man! Even in your dream I still have this stupid zit!" Jen yelled in anger.

"Wow, that is a crazy dream" Wyatt said with his eyes wide.

"I can't believe you dream of Ron being a hero." Jonesy said with a laugh.

"Well it is a cool dream" Nicki said as she smiled and crossed her arms.

"I like the part where we both kicked those zombie butts!" Jude said as he punched and kicked the air.

"Wow. In the end, I'm still with Talon." Caitlin said as she gave a dreamy sigh.

"Yeah. I don't think I'll be watching horror movies late night for a while." I said and yawned once more.

"Here, have some lemonade Valerie." Caitlin said as she handed me a drink.

"Thanks." I grabbed the drink and took a sip.

"Well, time for work guys. I'll see ya." Nicki said as she got up and left.

"Same here. Coach Halder's in a bad mood so I'll probably be in the timeout box regardless." Jen said as she left with Nicki.

"You know Valerie, I'm surprised your dream is right about Jen's zit." Jonesy said. "I'm extra surprised you dreamed that I work at Not Quite Naked."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because that's my new job now." He said with a proud smile.

I spit out some of my lemonade and looked at him.

"You really pulled that card!?" I shouted.

"Yup. Now it's time for me to go and check out those ladies." Jonesy said as he wiggled his eyebrows and left.

"See you guys later. Nice dream Valerie." Wyatt said as he threw out his empty cup and left.

"Hey guys." Talon greeted us as he approached Caitlin.

"Oh! Hi Talon! Lemme tell you this crazy dream Valerie had of us!" Caitlin said in excitement as she focused on Talon's presence.

"Well, that just leaves us two" Jude said.

"Y-Yeah." I said and blushed.

I kept thinking about the romance we had in my dream. Good thing I didn't mention anything about it.

"I-I guess I should head to work." I said as I stood up.

"Let me walk you Val." Jude said as he walked next to me.

"Oh. Sure. I'd love your company." I said and smiled.

 _Can't believe I just said that!_

* * *

"So.." Jude said after a couple minutes of silence.

"So?" I questioned him.

"That dream you had. You seem to have a lot of moments of the two of us together." Jude said

I could feel my face getting flushed.

"O-Oh...well..uhm.." I didn't know what to say.

My moment was soon interrupted by someone calling out Jude's name.

"Hey Jude!"

We both looked to see who it was and I frowned.

 _Starr._

Even this became a reality from my dream.

 _That sucks._

"Hi Starr." Jude waved.

I waved at her as well and she waved back.

As soon as Starr was out of sight, Jude spoke.

"What were you going to say Val?" He asked.

"Oh. Well." I grew silent.

"You don't have to say anything if you're feeling shy." Jude said and patted my shoulder.

I smiled and nodded my head.

He is a sweet guy.

"Here's my stop. I'll see you later Jude." I said and waved.

"See ya brah." He said, dropped his skateboard and rode off.

I headed inside and was greeted by my co-worker, Seth.

"Yo." Seth greeted me.

"Hey. What am I doing today?" I asked.

"You're giving out free samples today." He said with a grin.

My jaw dropped.

 _Is everything really becoming a reality!?_

* * *

 _"Most of the things I dreamed of is actually real Nicki!"_ I shouted on the phone.

It's been 3 hours and work was as usual, dead and boring, so I took advantage of this to give a call to Nicki.

 _"Oh come on. I'm sure it's not bad."_ Nicki said trying to calm me down.

 _"I'm telling you, Jen's zit, Jonesy actually getting that job, me having to stand out here for samples and then Starr!"_ I shouted once again.

 _"Well, maybe it's destiny. Except for the whole zombie part. That's definitely not going to happen._ " She said with a laugh.

 _"I guess so."_ I sighed.

 _"So, tell me all the missing details of you and Jude from your dream."_ Nicki said straightforward.

I could feel my face flushing.

 _"I-I don't know what you're talking about.."_ I said

 _"That's bull. I know you purposefully left out details about the two of you. I can just tell."_ Nicki said.

She sure is a smart friend.

 _"Alright. You got me."_ I said.

I then explained everything that happened between me and Jude from the dream to Nicki.

 _"Wow, that sounds so romantic."_ Nicki said.

 _"Yeah."_ I agreed.

 _"Hey, wouldn't it be cool if that comes true as well?"_ She said.

 _"W-What? N-No way...I know everything else happened but I highly doubt that."_ I said quietly.

 _"Valerie, I know for sure that you two are meant to be!"_ Nicki shouted.

 _"How are you sure?"_ I asked.

 _"Oh come on! I was the one who told him to introduce himself to you last year! Jude totally has the hots for you!"_ Nicki shouted.

 _"Really? You gave him to courage to approach me?"_ I asked.

 _"Yup. I know it's going to happen some time soon. You just wait."_ Nicki said with confidence.

Before I could say anything else on the phone, I noticed Jude walking towards me.

"Jude?" I said quietly.

 _"Hello? Valerie? You there?"_ Nicki said on the other line.

 _"Uh, I'll talk to you later. You know who is here."_ I said and hung up the phone.

"Hey Val" Jude greeted me with a smile.

"Hey. Jude. What are you doing here?" I asked him.

I'm a bit confused and surprised to see him.

"I have a surprise for you." Jude said with a smile.

"A surprise? What is it?" I asked.

"Not telling you. It's a secret." He said.

"I'm in the middle of my shift right now. How are you going to show it to me?" I asked.

"Don't worry." Jude said as he pointed behind me.

I turned around to see Seth walking towards me.

"Don't worry Valerie. I got this covered." Seth said as he snatched the sample try away from me.

"Huh?" I was confused.

"Follow me Val." Jude said as he started walking inside Just Desserts.

"W-What's going on?" I asked.

"Just helping Jude with Operation Valerie" Seth said with a smile.

"Operation Valerie!?" I shouted.

"Oh shut up and follow the guy already." Seth said as he pushed me towards Jude.

I finally shut my mouth and followed Jude.

He was leading me towards the back.

We approached the door next to the freezer room. The door with the 'Keep Out' sign.

 _Don't tell me this actually leads to the roof..._

"This way my lady." Jude said in a polite tone and opened the door.

There was the ladder with the sign "Roof Access"

 _Just like how it was in my dream._

Except, I never got to climb up here. So this will be new to me.

"Do I climb up?" I asked Jude.

"Yup. Your surprise is up there." He said.

"Okay."

I was about to climb up the ladder until Jude stopped me.

"Wait." He said.

"Huh?" I looked at him in confusion.

"I need to blindfold you." He said as he took out a bandanna from his pocket.

"Is this a prank?" I asked

"Nope my lady. I assure you it is not a prank." Jude answered as he placed the bandanna around my eyes. "Now climb up carefully, I'll be right behind you."

With that, I climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch.

* * *

We made it to the roof and I climbed out of the ladder.

I waited for Jude to climb out and guide me to wherever I have to go.

"This way Val." He said as he placed his hands on my shoulder and moved me forward.

After a couple of steps, Jude let go of my shoulder.

"Alright. You can take off the bandanna." He said.

With that, I slowly removed the piece of cloth.

It was really bright outside so it took me a minute to adjust my vision.

"Do you like it?" Jude asked.

As soon was my vision was adjusted, I looked around my surrounding.

The roof was covered in flower petals. Different colors of petals it is.

"W-What is this?" I asked, surprised.

"Did you read the message?" He asked.

"Message?" I looked at the ground and noticed the bunches of petals.

They were laid out in a unique way in which I read the message he wrote.

The ground said:

 _ **Will You Go Out With Me Val?**_

I let out a slight gasp.

I am shocked and surprised.

 _Jude is asking me out!?_ I thought to myself.

I couldn't even form words in my mouth.

I turned to look at Jude and he just stood there with a smile.

"Jude.." I said his name quietly.

He walked up to me and grabbed my hands.

"Val" He started speaking. "I really, really like you. I've been wanting to ask you out for a long time but I couldn't get the courage to. But now, I'm ready to ask."

He paused, took a deep breath and spoke again.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked.

My eyes widened.

"You've been wanting to ask me out for a long time?" I repeated his words.

"Yeah. I did. I wanted to ask sooner but I wasn't sure if you like me back." He said shyly.

I let go of his hands and pulled him into a hug.

"Of course I like you Jude! I would love to be your girlfriend!" I shouted.

I could tell he was happy and hugged me back.

"Can I ask you something?" I said as I moved away.

"What is it?" He answered.

"It might be silly of me to say this, but I always thought you still had a thing for Starr." I said sheepishly.

Jude gave me an odd look but then laughed.

"It's not silly Val." He said. "I did liked Starr, but that was before we met. It all changed when I met you, you know."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really. Over the past year that I've gotten to know you, I realized that I had strong feelings for you. All I could think about was being with you and no one else." He said.

 _It's similar to my dream._

I could feel my smile getting bigger.

 _I'm so happy this is happening._

"You know what Jude. I'm very happy to have met you. You were so nice and sweet to me. Plus you were there for me through my tough times. I'm very grateful for that." I said.

"I guess we should thank Nicki for that since she was the one who convinced me to talk to you." He said with a laugh.

"Don't worry, I will." I laughed along. "You know, when I spoke about my dream to you guys, I left out a huge detail."

"Is it about the two of us?" He asked.

"O-Oh! W-Well..." I spoke shyly. "Yeah. I dreamed that you asked me out in there as well."

"I see. Good thing it's actually happening." He said with a smile.

"Yeah. It was a pretty awesome dream though." I said with a sigh.

"I agree. Wish I had your dream." He said.

We both laughed again.

We stopped laughing and looked at each other.

It was silent. We just kept staring at each other.

Within a matter of seconds, we were both leaning in towards each other.

 _This is it! This is happening!_

Our lips finally touched.

I could feel my heart beating rapidly.

 _I want this moment to last forever!_

We parted and I couldn't help but to giggle.

"I gotta ask, how did you plan this?" I asked.

"Well, I got the gang to help of course. Been planning this since the beginning of the week. Of course, I had to ask Seth to help as well." He said with a smirk.

"But how did you get access to the roof? Did Ron give you permission?" I questioned.

"Nope, he has no clue." He said.

"Wouldn't we get into trouble if he finds us?" I asked worriedly.

"Nah brah. I have a good feeling about this." He answered with pride.

"I see." I chuckled.

Our eyes locked and I could feel another kiss coming.

We leaned in again and just as our lips were about to touch...

"Hey! You maggots!" Someone shouted.

We looked around to see the source of the voice.

It was none other than Ron.

"Who said you can get up here!?" Ron shouted as he was walking towards us.

"Uh oh. We've been caught Jude." I said.

"Don't worry Val. I got a plan." He said.

"And what is the plan?" I asked.

"We run!" He shouted.

He grabbed my hand and we started running.

"Come back here maggots!" Ron screamed as he ran after us.

Jude and I just laughed as we continued to run away from Ron.

That crazy dream I had pretty much led me to this awesome day.

I'm so glad certain events of that nightmare ended up becoming a reality.

 _My reality._

* * *

 ** _END_**


End file.
